Alabama Softball Caps Easton Bama Bash With 3-2 Win Over UCF

After some big run totals earlier in the weekend, Alabama softball was locked in a much lower-scoring affair Sunday against UCF, ultimately edging out the Knights, 3-2, to cap an undefeated weekend at the Easton Bama Bash.

Alabama (13-2) jumped ahead to an early 3-0 lead but a solo home run by UCF (6-6) and some defensive miscues by the Crimson Tide kept the score close. Another strong performance in the circle by Alexis Osorio (6-1) got Alabama out of a few late jams, as she allowed just two runs, one earned, on three hits with 14 strikeouts.

Carrigan Fain capped a stellar weekend at the plate with a 2-2 performance Sunday, ultimately earning Easton Bama Bash MVP honors going 7-10 (.700) with two doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs over the five games. Reagan Dykes drove in two of Alabama’s three runs on Sunday with a two-run home run in the second inning, her first long ball of the year, while Claire Jenkins tallied the third with a third-inning sac fly.

Along with Fain, Bailey Hemphill, Chandler Dare, Merris Schroder and Sydney Littlejohn also earned All-Tournament honors.

With a runner on base and one out in the bottom of the second, Dykes unloaded on a 2-1 pitch and sent it sky-high to left field for a two-run home run, giving Alabama a 2-0 lead. Jenkins gave the Tide another in the next inning, lifting a fly ball to center field as Hemphill tagged up and scored on the sacrifice fly.

With two in scoring position for UCF in the top of the fourth, a passed ball moved the runners up 60 feet, cutting Alabama’s lead to 3-1. After a three-up, three-down fifth inning, UCF capitalized on some Tide errors in the sixth to apply some late pressure. A fielding error on the first batter allowed her to move to second and another error two batters later put two on with one out. A single loaded the bases but Osorio got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts to preserve the 3-1 lead.

UCF catcher Autumn Gillespie cut Alabama’s lead to one in the top of the seventh with a solo home run. Now leading 3-2, the Tide defense closed out the game with a popup and a groundout.

Next up, Alabama heads to Birmingham, Ala., for a midweek matchup against UAB (3-8) on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. CT.

EASTON BAMA BASH ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Carrigan Fain – Alabama (MVP)

Chandler Dare - Alabama

Bailey Hemphill – Alabama

Sydney Littlejohn – Alabama

Merris Schroder – Alabama

Tamesha Glover – UCF

Courtney Rotten – UCF

Kamryn Toney – UCF

Mattison Maisel – Texas Tech

Devon Toney – Texas Tech